8  Careers: The Fast Track THE ECONOMIC TIMES | NEW DELHI / GURGAON | TUESDAY | 18 APRIL 2017

Q&A
Ready to Take Risks & Learn?
HENRIETTE KOLB
HEAD, IFC GENDER SECRETARIAT, IFC

Theres a Long Way Youre Perfect for Startup Job

WAYS Funds may be drying up but some startups are still hiring & look for characteristics
TO to Go in Bridging such as accepting mistakes and assuming ownership in the candidates they screen

Make The Most Of A

Gender Gap in India Brinda Dasgupta &
Varuni Khosla

Bengaluru | New Delhi: A willingness

Startup Screening
Online grocery For travel company ixigo, a

Networking Event
Networking events can often be very useful
for meeting new people and expanding your
professional contact base, but such
programmes are not just about exchanging
business cards and shaking hands.
Brinda Dasgupta talks to experts to find out
how to turn meetings with people at
networking events into lasting professional
relationships.
1 Do Your Research
Knowing the background of the speakers and
other attendees at the networking programme
you are going to be attending will stand you in
good stead. Be sure to look up a few of the main
people who are going to be there. Going through
their LinkedIn profiles will also help you find
common connections and areas of interest, said
Kannan Ramamurthy, director of engineering
programmes at Juniper Networks.
2 Know Why You Are There
Have a clear reason for attending the networking
event. Everyone has a different purpose for at-
tending a networking programme; be sure to fig-
ure out yours, said Ramamurthy. Steve Correa,
human resources head at United Spirits, said,
The programmes you attend must have some
personal usability for you.
3 Focus On Others
In order to maximise a networking opportunity,
sit with people you dont know. Use the time to
share professional stories and successes which
will help you bond with new contacts. Engage
the people you meet in a conversation that fo-
cuses on them, said Mona Cheriyan, group head
of human resources at Thomas Cook India.
4 Make An Impression
Everyone watches each other at such an event
to gauge what they are like. Have a good pos-
ture, smile and be noticed. Combine your pro-
fessionalism with personality as you engage
others in conversation, said Cheriyan.
5 Follow Up
Be sure to follow through with people you meet
at networking events, ideally within the next 48
hours. Doing so soon after the programme will
ensure you are still fresh in these acquaintances
minds. Make sure that any information you send
is of interest to the other person as this will start
a mutually beneficial relationship, said Correa.
I
ndia has taken significant strides in store BigBasket willingness to learn and an
creating job equality for men and
women but there is still a long way to
to take risks, accept mistakes and assu-
me ownership for the deliverables: these
looks for
candidates who
adaptability to change are
must-have qualities
are some of the characteristics that star- can look at
go, says Henriette Kolb, head-IFC Gender
tups look for in the perfect candidate things differently At Chaayos, cultural t is important
Secretariat at International Finance they want to take on board. because the digital and candidates can expect to be
Corporation. Kolb, who was in Mumbai Many new-age companies have shut space demands a interviewed on why they think they
recently, spoke to ETs Sreeradha D Basu shop and several others including biggi- unique perspective will be a good t in the company
on where Corporate India stands on job es like Flipkart and Snapdeal handed
out pink slips as funds have become hard At online pharmacy Chumbak gives Furlenco prefers
equality. Edited excerpts: Netmeds.com, importance to candidates candidates who can
to come by, but it isnt all gloom in Indias
startup space. A few such as Chaayos, maturity and whove dealt with failure, gure things out on
Where does Corporate India stand in stability are the because they know where their own, analyse
Netmeds.com, BigBasket, Furlenco and
creating job equality for women? basic attributes theyve gone wrong and requirements & get
A World Economic Forum Report estima-
ixigo are hiring, and their founders say
they favour candidates who fit cultural-
looked for in any ensure they dont repeat the job done with
candidate those mistakes minimum intervention
tes that it will take 170 years to close the ly into their organisations and demonst-
rate an adaptability to change.
gender gap at the current rate of pro-
gress. We cannot afford such slow pro-
work, clear rules and criteria for promo- According to a Nasscom-Zinnov report at everything, said Aloke Bajpai, the tra- ramped up to 150-160 over the next year
tions and elimination of gender biases in released last year, India is expected to ha- vel companys CEO. A willingness to or so.
gress. A McKinsey report of 2015The ve over 10,500 startups by 2020. Having adapt is very important; intellectual hu-
performance reviews. Companies could
power of parity, advancing womens certain attributes could help you land mility is one of the building blocks of SENSE OF OWNERSHIP
also implement improved parental and
equality in Indiasays India could boost one of the over 2.1lakh jobs they are fore- the learning attitude. At Furlenco, preference is given to can-
family-leave policies and provide flex- cast to offer. The startup, which currently has about didates with one-two years of experien-
GDP by $2.9 trillion in 2025 by fully
ible work opportunities that allow tech- 100 employees, is looking to increase its ce, who can demonstrate that they will
bridging the gender gap at the workplace.
nology-based remote work. RIGHT ATTITUDE workforce by 10-20% over the next year. take ownership for their tasks.
The good news is that important pro-
Skill matters, but attitude is more im- Were in a category thats never been
gress has been made in India. For ex- portant, said Hari Menon, cofounder of CULTURAL FIT there in India before furniture rentals
ample, the bill regarding paid maternity
What can be the role of policy makers?
online grocery store BigBasket. Candidates who interview with Nitin so were all learning as we go. I look for
India can add 68 million more women to
leave that will benefit about 1.8 million Theres no space for old baggage if Saluja, founder of Chaayos, can expect those candidates who are smart enough
the nonfarm labour force over the next youre coming to work with us, you must to be quizzed on why they will be a good to figure things out on their own, analy-
women. There is still a long way to go. For
decade if its policy makers, the private be able to look at things differently be- cultural fit in the company. se requirements, and then get the job do-
instance, more women in India tend to
work in low-productivity jobs than men.
sector, and others focus on closing cause the digital space demands a diffe- The individual needs to have achieved ne with minimum intervention, said
gender gaps in secondary and tertiary rent perspective, he said. something insanely great. I try to push Ajith Mohan Karimpana, founder of the
Women in India do almost 10 times the
education in Indias large states; lower The Bengaluru-based company will be people into a corner and want them to co- Bengaluru-based company.
amount of unpaid care work that men do.
barriers to job creation; and expand
hiring for its technology and product me out of it during interviews; this The startup has 250-odd employees and
Some of the biggest obstacles women management teams across all levels shows me how high on energy they are is looking to expand the headcount by at
skills-training for women in key sectors. over the next year. and if they are life-centric or not. I need least 10-20% over the next year, as it rai-
face are underlying social attitudes.
Moreover, as in many other regions of At online pharmacy Netmeds.com, ma- to have the confidence that they want to ses its next round of funding which it is
the world, an area where Indian women
How is IFC helping to focus on the turity and stability are the basic attitu- achieve something big and are optimis- due to begin talks for. Technology and
achievement of gender equality? des it looks for in candidates. tic, said Saluja. operations teams will be ramped up, sa-
workers face some of the greatest in-
A big part of IFCs work globally is in A startup goes through various cycles This year, Chaayos is looking to add id Karimpana.
equalities is legal protection. not just when it comes to funding but al- about 20 people to its corporate team of
reducing the gap between women and
so the ups and downs on how a customer 65 and hire 600-700 more at the shop-floor LEARNING FROM FAILURE
men as entrepreneurs, employees,
What are the strategies Indian
corporate leaders, suppliers, consumers,
may react, how a strategy will be imple- level where it now employs 400. While success at previous roles is good,
companies need to adopt? mented, said founder Pradeep Dadha. At Chumbak, there are four people who ixigo and Chumbak also look for candi-
and community stakeholders.
Research confirms that women in lea- In the startup world, not all experiments are specifically trained to administer a dates whove experienced failure.
Our successes in India would not have work and the idea is to look for people culture test which comes after the de- Ixigos Bajpai recently interviewed a
dership roles are directly linked to a
been possible without the participation who can imbibe this understanding, he partmental interviews. One of the ques- developer, whom he asked, When was
range of business benefits including added. The 450-strong company is loo- tions they commonly ask is, If money the last time you failed? His response
of womenwe achieved significant
better firm performance, particularly king to hire another 150 across the spec- were not an object, what would you be was: Yesterday. I liked that, it showed
results in microfinance and retail space in
during economic volatility, greater trum, especially in roles of marketing doing instead? a recognition of the smaller things, sa-
ability to minimise high-risk financial
IFC India with their support. and business development. These four interviewers have veto po- id Bajpai.
For example, till date, over 40% of the wers over other interviewers; if they fe- Many of the people interviewed at
transactions, and serving markets domi-
total microfinance loans in India are ADAPTABILITY TO CHANGE el someone will not fit into the company Chumbak are those whove tried their
nated by women.
provided by IFC-backed microfinance For Gurgaon-based ixigo, a willingness culture, their word stands, cofounder hand at running a startup and failed.
The private sector in India could commit to learn and adaptability to change are Vivek Prabhakar said. They make for great additions to the
institutions, with most of the borrowers
to targets and ensure companies em- crucial. The Bengaluru-based startup is going company because they know what they-
being women. IFC-backed microfinance
brace policies that promote diversity. In an ecosystem where the norms to be hiring for its supply chain, plan- ve gone wrong at and ensure they dont
institutions have reached 40 million change continuously and so does the ning, retail, marketing and design te- repeat those mistakes, said cofounder
These include fair hiring practices, a
beneficiaries, mostly women. user experience, no one can be an expert ams. The 110-strong workforce will be Prabhakar.
commitment to equal wages for equal

Aon Ties Up with

IIMB for CHRO
Programme
Aim is to build
leaders who drive
business outcomes
through HR

Our Bureau

Mumbai: Aon Hewitt has

partnered with Indian Insti-
tute of Management-Banga-
lore to launch a new pro-
gramme, Next Generation
CHROs, which aims to build a
talent pool of leaders who dri-
ve business outcomes thro-
ugh human resources.
Managing change, a sur-
vey found, will be the biggest
ask of a CEO from a CHRO
(chief HR officer). When we
asked CHROs on the gaps
they felt in their capability
when they first took on the
position, business knowled-
ge emerged as the top most fo-
cus area. The next-genera-
tion CHRO programme ende-
avours to expand the talent
pool of CHROs in India by
addressing such critical ca-
pability gaps, said Sandeep
Chaudhary, CEO of Aon He-
witt India Consulting.
The programme, co-created
by Aon and IIM-Bangalore,
will be launched in June. It
will focus on various aspects
including sharpening the un-
derstanding of business va-
lue chain to identify linkage
to people initiatives, desig-
ning and execution of busi-
ness-aligned human capital
strategy, reconfiguring HR
operating models in response
to dynamic business de-
mands, driving change such
as globalisation and acquisi-
tions by leveraging data and
technology and steering the
transformation journey of
an HR organisation.
It is broken into three modu-
les, with 10 days spent on IIM-
Bangalore campus. Besides
being taught by IIM faculty,
participants will work with
senior Aon practitioners.
We have partnered with
Aon for the design and deve-
lopment of the curriculum,
besides being involved with
the delivery and marketing
as well, said professor Ma-
dan Mohan Raj Athimoolam,
chief programme officer-ex-
ecutive education program-
mes, IIM-Bangalore.
Initially around 30 partici-
pants are being targeted for
each batch. There is a gene-
ral perception that the CHRO
is not finding a voice on the bo-
ard and not bringing enough
business perspective to the
table. There is an evolving ne-
ed to understand the business
to make an impact at the se-
nior level, said Athimoolam.